HomeMy WebLinkAbout07. Approve Agreement w-State of CA Office of Administrative Hearings-Admin Svcs for Personnel Proceedingµ w
VED BY
CITY MANAGER
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITYCOUNCIL
FROM: OFFICE OF
BY: JAMES MCQUEEN, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCEST
SUBJECT:- OF • - OFFICE OF
HEARINGS
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the agreement with the State of
California Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) to provide administrative services for
personnel proceedings required by the California Government Code for certain public
safety member appeal proceedings, and that the City Council authorize the signature of
the City Manager as authorized to execute this agreement.
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California Government Code requires that certain administrative appeal proceedings
regarding personnel actions fall within the Administrative Procedures Act. Such appeals
include determinations of industrial disability retirement applications and punitive
disciplinary action in accordance with the Firefighter Bill of Rights.
If a local safety member timely appeals the City's action, appeal hearings shall be
conducted before an administrative law judge of the OAH and in conformity with the
Administrative Procedures Act.
An agreement with the OAH is necessary for the City to request administrative services
for appeal proceedings to be scheduled in the near future. The current agreement with
the OAH approved by council on January 13, 2015, is due to expire at the end of
December 2019. The proposed OAH agreement includes an increase in service
charges include filing fees ($125 per case), administrative law judge hourly rate ($300
per hour), court reporter, record of the hearing ($30 per hearing per calendar day), and
translator/interpreter fees as required.
The agreement is effective upon approval and execution of all parties. The term of the
agreement is five years from the effective date and may be extended by agreement.
Fiscal Responsibility
AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
NOVEMBER 1 •
PAGE 2
FISCAL IMPACT
Sufficient funding is included in the Fiscal Year 2019-20Resources • Department
Budget.
•
AGREEMENT NUMBER
1. This Agreement is entered into between:
LOCAL AGENCY'S NAME
CITY OF DOWNEY
CONTRACTOR'S NAME
Department of General Services / Office of Administrative Hearings
2 The term of this
Agreement is: Upon the date of approval and execution by all parties through five years
3. The maximum amount $ 48,000.00
of this Agreement is: Forty Eight Thousand Dollars and No Cents
4. The parties agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the following exhibits which are by this reference made a part
of the Agreement.
Exhibit A — Scope of Work 5 pages
Exhibit B — Budget Detail and Payment Provisions 2 pages
Exhibit C — General Terms and Conditions 1 pages
Exhibit - Service Revolving Fund (SRF) Directive — Payment By Wire Transfer Form 1 pages
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement has been executed by the parties hereto.
CONTRACTOR
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CONTRACTOR'S NAME
Office of Administrative Hearings
BY (Authorized Signature) DATE SIGNED(Do not type)
PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING
Bob N. Varma, Deputy Director and Assistant Chief ALJ
ADDRESS
2349 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95833
I*- �6' A
LOCAL AGENCY NAME
CITY OF DOWNEY
BY (Authorized Signature) DATE SIGNED(Do not type)
A!5 I
—I declare under penalty of perjury that I have full authority to execute this agreement on behalf of the Local Agency.
PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING
Gilbert A. Livas, City Manager
ADDRESS
11111 Brookshire Avenue, Downey CA 90241
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SCOPE OF WORK
1. Upon request of .City of Downey
(hereinafter referred to as "Local Agency"), the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH)
agrees to furnish the services of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and case
management staff to the Local Agency, for the purpose of managing cases and
conducting hearings under Government Code section 27727 when required personnel
are available by OAH. The assignment of ALJs for hearings will be at the discretion of
the Director and/or Presiding Administrative Law Judges, who may elect to hear the
matter themselves.
2. Project Representatives
The project representatives during the term of this agreement will be:
Office of Administrative Hearings
Alan R. Alvord, Presiding Administrative Law Judge, General Jurisdiction Division
Phone: 619-525-4475
Email: Alan.Alvord(Ddgs.ca.gov
Local Agency: City of Downey
Name: James McQueen
Title: Director of Human Resources
Phone: (562) 904-7292
Email: jmcqueen@downeyca.org
Direct all inquiries regarding this agreement to:
Office of Administrative Hearings
Tim Dean, Contract Analyst
2349 Gateway Oaks Dr. Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95833
Phone: 916-263-0791
Email: tim.dean@_q!gs.ca.gov
Local Agency: City of Downey
Attention: James McQueen
Address: 11111 Brookshire Avenue, Downey CA 90241
Phone: (562) 904-7292
Email: mcqueen@downeyca.org
All invoices and billing shall be to directed to:
Local Agency: City of Downey
Attention: James McQueen
Address: 11111 Brookshire Avenue, Downey CA 90241
Phone: (562) 904-7292
Email: mcqueen@downeyca.org
The Project Representative and Agreement and Billing Representative may be changed
through written confirmation to the other party. This change shall not require an amendment
to this agreement. It may take up to two billing cycles for a change to the Local Agency
Billing Contact to be in effect.
3. Services to be Performed:
a. The Local Agency shall provide OAH a written request to set a matter for hearing
or mediation with all pleadings, documents, papers, or other materials that have
been provided to the other party. The Local Agency agrees to provide OAH
copies of all applicable laws and ordinances governing the hearing at the time
the request for hearing or mediation is made. The Local Agency agrees that
OAH will not be able to schedule a hearing or mediation until these materials are
provided. The Local Agency shall indicate in the request to set a matter for
hearing if OAH is to issue a proposed or final decision in the matter. If a
proposed decision is required, Local Agency shall provide the name and contact
information for the decision -maker who is responsible for making the final
decision.
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b. The Local Agency shall electronically file the request to set a matter for hearing
and all other required pleadings and papers with OAH using the secure electronic
filing system offered by OAH or otherwise in accordance with OAH requirements.
c. The Local Agency shall inform OAH if the hearing is to be electronically recorded
or if a court reporter is required. If a court reporter is required, the Local Agency
shall indicate at the time the request a hearing if they will be providing a court
reporter or if OAH should provide one. Unless the Local Agency or OAH
determines a court reporter is required by statute, ordinance, or regulation, the
hearing will be electronically recorded by OAH.
d. OAH shall perform all case management and hearing services that OAH, in its
sole discretion, deems necessary to the proper handling and adjudication of the
case.
e. The Local Agency agrees to inform OAH 30 days prior to the hearing if any
accommodations or interpreters are required. Local Agency shall be responsible
for the costs of accommodations or interpreters. If OAH incurs costs for
providing reasonable accommodations, interpreter or translation services for any
matter under this agreement, those costs shall be borne by the Local Agency.
f. Record Retention: OAH shall retain all records in accordance with its current
record retention schedule. If the Local Agency requests OAH to issue a
proposed decision, the exhibits will be returned to the Local Agency Project
Representative along with the proposed decision at the conclusion of the matter,
and the Local Agency shall be deemed the custodian of the administrative
record.
4. Service Location: The services shall be performed at a location convenient for OAH and
all parties. The Local Agency shall file a request for mediation or hearing directly with
the local OAH office which is handling the matter.
5. Record of the Proceeding:
a. If a Court Reporter is not used, OAH shall be responsible for electronic recording
of all hearings, and shall impose a recording fee not to exceed the amount set by
the Department of General Services through the Price Book. The current Price
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Book is located at: https:// ,d_ s,ca,00v/0FS/Price-Book. The
electronic recording fee shall only be imposed following the actual
recording of a proceeding and shall not be included as part of the filing fee.
b. If OAH provides a Court Reporter, the Local Agency is responsible for all costs
associated with the Court Reporter, in accordance with the current contract rates,
Current contract rates, including Court Reporter and transcription costs, can be
found at: https:// ,dgs.ca. ov/OAH/Case-Types/General-
Jurisdiction/Resources/Page-Content/General-J urisdiction-Resources-List-Folder/
Find-Contract-Information-to-Obtain-OAH-Court-Reporter-Services.
c. OAH shall arrange for transcription of hearing recordings upon the request of any
party to the proceeding or the Local Agency Project Representative and upon
receipt of payment for transcription costs. OAH may use a vendor for
transcription services.
d. OAH will charge a requesting party the actual cost of preparing the administrative
record. If the requesting party has been declared in forma pauperis, or has
received a waiver of court fees from a court of competent jurisdiction in a case
arising out of the OAH matter, and is seeking judicial review of the case before
OAH, the Local Agency shall pay the full costs for preparing the administrative
record and/or transcript. OAH will notify the Local Agency of the associated costs
prior to preparing such records.
e. OAH will not include within its administrative record any records or hearing
exhibits the custody of which has been transferred to the Local Agency. OAH
may prepare a clerk's record upon request and payment of associated fees in
these circumstances.
6. Rates
a. In consideration of the performance of such services by OAH, the Local Agency
agrees to pay to OAH the full cost of rendering such services at the rate
established at the time the services are rendered. The Local Agency is
responsible for the filing fee for each case filed, ALJ (including Presiding
Administrative Law Judge, and Division Presiding Administrative Law Judge)
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time billed at an hourly rate, an electronic recording fee if the proceedings are
electronically recorded, the cost of all accommodation or interpreter services
requested, and the full cost of any preparation of the clerk's record or transcript
at the current contract rates.
b. In the event a calendared case is taken off -calendar, or needs to be re-
calendared, other than by OAH, and OAH is unable to schedule the ALJ for work
on another case, the Local Agency agrees to pay OAH for the original hearing
time or until the ALJ is assigned to another case, whichever occurs first. Every
effort will be made to promptly reassign the scheduled ALJ in the event a
calendared matter is cancelled, taken off -calendar, settled, re-calendared or
continued.
c. The costs of OAH's services include filing fees, ALJ hourly rates, any reasonable
costs related to any requested accommodations, and translator/interpreter fees
as required. All costs associated with providing a record of the hearing
(reporter/transcription, etc.) shall be billed directly to the requesting party or the
Local Agency in accordance with Section 5 above. ALJ hourly rates and filing
fees charged by OAH will be the rates set forth in the Department of General
Services' Price Book at the time the services are rendered. Rates for court
reporters will be the current contract rates at the time the services are rendered,
which vary by geographical location. Fees for translator/interpreters and
transcription services will be based on current contract rates at the time the
services are rendered. All rates are subject to change annually. The current
contract rates for these services can be found on OAH's website.
d. The Local Agency agrees to be responsible for the full costs of any service
provided by OAH on a Local Agency case, regardless of any agreement the
Local Agency may have with a third party or any other cost-sharing provision.
7. The contract is effective upon approval and execution of all signatures to this contract.
The term of this contract is five years from the effective date of the contract. This
contract may only be amended for term and amount upon mutual agreement of the
parties.
BUDGET DETAIL AND PAYMENT PROVISIONS
1. The Office of Administrative Hearings is a reimbursable entity as detailed in Government
Code section 11370.4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the total cost of
services provided by the OAH shall be collected from the Local Agency entering into this
agreement.
2. Parties shall keep apprised of the balance of this agreement at all times. Local Agency
agrees to notify OAH when the expended amount is close to exhausting the funds in this
agreement.
3. For services rendered in accordance with the Scope of Work, the Local Agency shall
compensate the OAH for the full cost of services and actual expenditures incurred in
accordance with the rates specified herein. Compensation for services rendered by
OAH pursuant to this agreement shall not be dependent on the decision rendered by
the ALJ in a hearing involving the Local A enc . OAH charges shall include the
following: filing fees, electronic recording fees, Administrative Law Judge hourly charges,
and translator/interpreter fees as required. Additionally, all costs associated with
providing a record of the hearing (reporter/transcription, etc.) shall be billed directly to
the Local Agency.
4. Invoices shall be paid promptly and delays in payment may result in OAH's
discontinuation of services.
5. ALJ hourly rates and filing fees charged by OAH will be the rates set forth in the
Department of General Services' Price Book at the time the services are rendered.
Rates for court reporters will be the current contract rates at the time the services are
rendered, which vary by geographical location. Fees for translator/interpreters and
transcription services will be based on current contract rates at the time the services are
rendered. All rates are subject to change annually. Any training required of the ALJs by
the Local Agency to conduct these hearings will be paid out of the contract funds by the
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Local Agency at the prevailing ALJ hourly rate. The Price Book is available
6. OAH shall be paid not more frequently than monthly, in arrears, upon issuance of an
invoice by the Department of General Services which details charges, expenses, direct
and indirect costs.
7. Payment may be completed through direct transfer, in accordance with Service
Revolving Fund Directive, SRF #1025, attached hereto as Exhibit D. For questions
about establishing a wire transfer process with OAH/DGS, the Local Agency shall
contact DGS at SRFFISCALSERVICES(cDdgs,ca.gov or the OAH Project
Representative.
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. APPROVAL: This Agreement is of no force or effect until signed by both parties,
2. AMENDMENT: Except as noted in Exhibit A, Paragraph 2, no amendment or variation of the
terms of this Agreement shall be valid, unless made in writing, signed by the parties and
approved as required. No oral understanding or Agreement not incorporated in the Agreement
is binding on any of the parties.
3. CANCELLATION/TERMINATION:
A. This agreement may be cancelled or terminated without cause by either party by giving 30
calendar days advance written notice to the other party. Such notification shall state the
effective date of termination or cancellation and include any final performance and/or
payment/invoicing instructions/requirements.
B. Upon receipt of a notice of termination or cancellation from the Local Agency, OAH shall
take immediate steps to stop performance and to cancel or reduce subsequent contract
costs.
C. OAH shall be entitled to payment for all allowable costs authorized under this agreement,
including authorized non -cancelable obligations incurred up to the date of termination or
cancellation, provided such expenses do not exceed the stated maximum amounts payable.
4. GOVERNING LAW: This contract is governed by and shall be interpreted in accordance with
the laws of the State of California.
5. SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES: In the event of a dispute, the Local Agency shall file a
"Notice of Dispute" with the Director of OAH within 10 days of discovery of the problem. Within
10 days, the Director of OAH may meet with the Local Agency for purposes of resolving the
dispute. The Director of OAH shall make the final administrative decision regarding a dispute.
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